Chapter 576: Karma
The Gold Devouring Immortal opened its mouth to release a thick pillar of golden light, which flashed through the air like a bolt of lightning, and within it were numerous translucent golden threads that were giving off a terrifying destructive aura.
In the next instant, a resounding boom rang out as the pillar of golden light split apart into around a dozen smaller beams of light, each of which shot forth toward one of the Azure Luan Bird projections.
These beams of light were extremely fast, while the Azure Luan Bird projections had been slowed down significantly, so the former was able to catch up to the latter in an instant.
A string of thunderous explosions rang out as the beams of golden light were detonated in unison, transforming into radiant golden suns that released devastating auras of destruction, creating countless spatial rifts in the surrounding area.
All of the Azure Luan Bird projections were instantly destroyed amid the explosions of golden light, with the exception of a single one.
This was the true Azure Luan Bird, and its feathers were in a state of complete disarray, while the wound stretching from its chest to its lower abdomen had been split open and was once again bleeding profusely.
Jin Tong was standing on the Azure Luan Bird's back, and she was also riddled with injuries, with countless thin cracks lining her entire exoskeleton.
As for Xiao Bai and Daoist Xie, they were nowhere to be seen, but numerous white and golden fragments could be seen littered throughout the nearby space.
The Azure Luan Bird threw up a mouthful of blood, but the defiance in its eyes didn't waver as it summoned its Mantra Treasured Axis once again.
However, before it had a chance to do anything else, several dozen translucent golden threads suddenly appeared directly beneath it, then pierced through its body and emerged from its back before it had a chance to react.
The Azure Luan Bird's entire body instantly stiffened, while the Mantra Treasured Axis also abruptly ceased in its rotation.
Immediately thereafter, the translucent golden threads converged forcefully, slicing the Azure Luan Bird's body into countless pieces, all of which began raining down toward the ground below.
Jin Tong wasn't struck by these translucent threads, but her expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and she immediately fled into the distance as a ball of golden light.
However, before she was able to get very far, the translucent golden threads intertwined with one another to form a huge golden net, trapping her within it.
Immediately thereafter, the Gold Devouring Immortal appeared directly before her, then opened its mouth to release a burst of golden light that encompassed her entire body.
A horrified look appeared on Jin Tong's face as she struggled with all her might, and golden light erupted out of her body, frantically attempting to keep the golden net at bay, but her efforts proved to be completely futile.
A derisive sneer appeared on the Gold Devouring Immortal's face, and it opened its mouth up wide, releasing a burst of golden light that sucked in Jin Tong in a flash.
Trapped within the golden light, Jin Tong's body shrank down rapidly before vanishing into the Gold Devouring Immortal's mouth.
The Gold Devouring Immortal hovered in mid-air with its eyes tightly shut, and the golden spirit domain around it rippled momentarily before vanishing into its body.
Moments later, radiant golden light erupted out of its body, forming waves of golden light that swept forth in all directions alongside its tremendous aura, which was slowly elevating bit by bit.
"I've finally found another one... Someday, I will return to my full power..." the Gold Devouring Immortal murmured to itself, then closed its eyes once again.
......
On the edge of a vast forest.
There was a small mountain here that was lined with jagged rocks, and a green jade flying carriage was rapidly approaching from afar before crashing heavily down onto the ground like a shooting star.
There was an enormous peach blossom forest countless kilometers away.
Under an enormous ancient peach blossom tree in the forest was a massive bed chariot, reclined on top of which was a huge white fox. The fox had a shock of golden fur on its glabella, resembling a heavenly eye.
Its eyes were slightly narrowed, making it appear as if it were half-asleep, and its entire body was enshrouded in a faint glow, making it appear as if it were a fox deity.
Not far away from the giant white fox was a gorgeous young girl in a short white dress. There was a slightly seductive quality to her stunning beautiful features, which were currently displaying a concerned expression, and after some hesitation, she asked, "Esteemed patriarch, if you could trap that Gold Devouring Immortal, then why didn't you help him a bit more and kill it altogether?"
"You know that I don't have any fondness for humans, Le'er. If it isn't for the fact that he looked after you in the Spirit Domain Realm, I would've already killed him for encroaching upon the territory of our Spirit Fox Tribe!" The white fox replied with a cold harrumph.
The girl that it had just referred to as Le'er was none other than Liu Le'er, who had spent much of her formative years with Han Li back in the Spirit Domain Realm.
"But esteemed patriarch..."
"That's enough!" the white fox snapped as its eyes abruptly sprang open. "I helped him this time not just to repay him for looking after you in the past, but also to sever the karma between you and him. This matter concerns your future cultivation, and while I do spoil you in other things, this is non-negotiable! If you refuse to accept this outcome, then I'll go and kill him right now to sever the karma at its roots!"
"No, don't do that! I'm sorry, esteemed patriarch," Liu Le'er hurriedly said in an alarmed manner.
A hint of sympathy appeared on the white fox's face upon seeing her panicked reaction, and he sighed, "Killing that Gold Devouring Immortal will incur severe consequences, even for me. I have no idea how that man made an enemy out of that Gold Devouring Immortal, but there's no need to worry.
As long as he knows what's good for him and turns back, it won't be impossible for him to make it back to the nearest immortal region in 20 years."
Liu Le'er wasn't relieved at all to hear this, and the concern in her eyes only grew more pronounced.
......
Close to a year passed by in a flash.
During this time, Han Li had continued to venture even deeper into the primordial land without pause.
However, as they advanced in their journey, the primordial beasts that they encountered became more and more powerful. As a result, they had no choice but to slow down and proceed with caution.
Even so, they had still in advertently incurred the wrath of extremely formidable primordial beasts on several occasions, thereby forcing them to flee for their lives.
Thankfully, none of these primordial beasts were anywhere near as persistent as the Gold Devouring Immortal, and at the very most, they would only pursue the flying carriage for a few days before giving up.
Half a month ago, Han Li had flown the carriage into a valley in order to escape from a High Zenith Stage primordial beast.
The valley was quite large, and there was a peaceful ancient forest inside.
However, only after entering the valley did Han Li realize that it was littered with primordial beast carcasses.
This was clearly a terrible sign, but before he had a chance to back out of the valley, countless vines converged from all directions to form a massive cage around the flying carriage.
As it turned out, this forest was actually an incredibly powerful tree demon.
In the end, Han Li was only able to escape from that ordeal after drawing upon the Divine Devilbane Lightning in his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword to conjure up a lightning teleportation array.